Green industry invites Americans to help military families

The green industry is doubling its efforts to assist deserving military families – and all Americans are invited to help. Project EverGreen and the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) today announced the “Buck it Up for Military Families” program. The joint effort is designed to raise $1 each from potentially millions of consumers to expand Project EverGreen’s GreenCare for Troops (GCFT) program and begin offering scholarships to college students of military families.

GreenCare for Troops is a national program administered by Project EverGreen to provide free lawn and landscape care for military families where the major breadwinner is serving in the Middle East. Currently there are more than 7,000 families and 2,000 volunteers signed up for the three-year-old program.

The “Buck It Up” program is designed to allow consumers to donate $1 to GCFT online at www.projectevergreen.com or www.toca.org. The program will begin by mid-March and conclude on May 16, Armed Forces Day in the U.S. Many TOCA members, a national professional development association for Green Industry communications professionals, are already involved with Project EverGreen in a variety of ways. This collaboration is an extension of that relationship.

“TOCA members (media companies and marketing agencies) have donated more than $1 million in ad space and communications expertise in the past four years for Project EverGreen,” says Den Gardner, executive director of both organizations. “The ‘Buck it Up’ program is a chance for TOCA and Project EverGreen to combine forces to reach the multiple and varied consumer audiences it reaches through publications, associations and service providers throughout the country.”

Project EverGreen and TOCA are asking others in the green industry to help spread the word to their colleagues, customers and families. Those interested in helping can contact Den Gardner, executive director, at dengardner@projectevergreen.com.

Project EverGreen Board President Chris Kujawa, owner of Kujawa Enterprises, Inc. (KEI, Inc.), a landscape company in Milwaukee, says the collaboration will help the organization take GCFT to the next level and extend Project EverGreen’s reach to more consumers. “Our EverGreen Zone in Akron last year proved that consistent messaging about the importance of managed green spaces resonated with consumers. We will continue the EverGreen Zone concept in Milwaukee this year. We see ‘Buck it Up’ as a way to focus our energies with consumers on our most visible program – GreenCare for Troops. Doing this will allow us to extend our program to children of military families to further their education.”

Ed Hiscock, board president of TOCA and editorial chief of Golf Course Management magazine, encourages all companies and publications to get involved in this program. “TOCA and Project EverGreen have been collaborating for years,” he says. “This program has the potential to provide the biggest impact yet to Project EverGreen and all its efforts to educate and inform consumers about the benefits of green spaces. We are celebrating 20 years as an organization in 2009. This is our moment to send a message to all in the Green Industry that we can do something tangible to assist military families in the war effort.”